Not What It Seems
by TypicallyUntypical
Summary: After her accident and leaving the cage her parents placed her in, Bella Swan, 27, finds herself alone in the city of Chicago. She has to pick up and find the pieces to her puzzle. With the help of her friends what she finds is unexpected. Is her life everything it was made to be, or is everything not what it seems?
1. Chapter 1

**Not What It Seems**

Chapter 1

 _Sigh._ The empty feeling hits me once again as I enter my dark and cold apartment. It's Christmas Eve, and I can't find it in me to be in the least bit cheerful. You see, four years ago, around this exact time, I was in an accident.

I was on the highway and a drunk driver struck my vehicle, causing it to flip off the road and into a ditch. I was in a coma for 3 days and suffered from a mild case of amnesia. Doctors said that it was a miracle that I made it out alive. However, It feels as though a large part of me is dead. This unknown, desolate feeling in my heart alerts me that something is missing, and I can't figure out what.

With the help of my parents, they've led me to a smooth recovery. Despite my father's protesting, I moved from Seattle to Chicago. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't stand being in that house another second, let alone that town. Despite being doted on, it feels like my parents were hiding me from something. It's as if there was something they hadn't informed me about my life after the accident. My mother always pauses and my father's mouth forms a hard line and he walks away. It's as if it's a joke, a secret that I'm being left out on. Maybe it's paranoia. Maybe it's logic.

I needed to leave, so that I can branch out and get things right on my own, yet that isn't going so well. Here I am, 27 years old and alone on Christmas Eve.

Don't get me wrong I made friends in the short year I've been here; it's just we haven't gotten close enough for me to be invited or accept an invitation to spending Christmas with them.

I turn on my television and sure enough I'm attacked with Christmas commercials, movies, ect. It's too much to bear, especially seeing happy couples kissing under the mistletoe, children dreaming of santa, waking up their parents with exuberant grins on their faces from seeing the gifts, this is what I hate.

This sharp pain that always touches my heart when I see that. Loneliness and familiarity accompany that. My mind is flood with a scene of me holding an overgrown belly and a masculine hand reaching for me, and then it's gone.

I let out the breath I'd been holding and the tears flow freely. Sometimes these scenes are so real. I see the happiness and love, but what I am and who I am contradicts every little part of them.

With a frustrated sigh, I toss my remote to the side, head to my little kitchen, and grab a beer from the fridge. As I head towards my room, I look at my reflection in my hall mirror. My hair a mass of curls, my large lips chapped from the cold, my dark skin marred with a scar left from my accident, and my eyes lost, empty, and afraid.

Shaking my head, I sit the beer down with a reminder to throw it away in the morning, and I head to my room.

 ******Christmas Morning******

 _Bzzz bzzz zzz_

Disoriented, I go in search for the hellish device that I call my phone.

Once I find it, I'm greeted with the face of my friend Angela. Angela and I are different in that: she has a husband, kids, and her whole family lives here. Me? I have nada. The first time I met Angela was at her bookstore where she offered me a job. When she asked me about my work experience, I burst to tears and informed her that I didn't know. That day she found out about my accident, and that was the day she was going to help me find out who the hell I was.

"Hello," I gritted out because who honestly calls someone at five in the morning?

"Hey...um Bella," she stuttered. That caught my attention because Angela is the most articulate person I know.

"Ang what's up?"

"Bella remember how I told you that Ben knows how to hack into records and stuff like that?"

"Y-yeah"

"I think you should come over. Like now…..There's something you should see. Fuck it's a lot you should see"

My stomach dropped. My mind went into a tailspin, and for the first time in what seems like forever, my heart picks up home.

 **Hey all, lemme know how you like it. What did Ben find? You'll find out in the next Chapter. See you on Friday 3**

 **BTW..this is my first ff, so be gentle lol.**


	2. Chapter 2

Not What It Seems

Chapter 2

 _"I think you should come over. Like now…..There's something you should see. Fuck it's a lot you should see"_

"W-what do you mean?" I questioned, already sorting through the drawers of my dresser to find something to wear.

"What the hell do you mean, what do I mean? I said there's a lot that you should see"

I bite my lip, something I do often when I'm nervous. I begin to pace thinking the worst: what if I was a criminal? What if I had a long line of debt? What if…

"Dammit Bella! Stop thinking for once and get your ass over here! I won't tell you this over the phone because, well this is some shit you shouldn't have to deal with on your own, so hang up, get dressed, and hurry the hell up!" The line goes dead.

This is the moment I've been waiting for. Although Angela told me not to think about it, I can't help but do just that.

After my accident, all I've begun to do was think. I think about the meaning of life and how often it's taken for granted, how every little crevice, sound, movement should be remembered because you never quite know when it'll all slip away.

I wince as a piercing pain hits me

 _"No matter what happens, I'll love you forever. You'll always have me, but you do know that will be you one day, pregnant with our child" and unknown masculine voice says lovingly._

 _I giggle into his chest and sigh, as I gaze at a woman rubbing her pregnant belly._

What the hell was that?

Before I can stop them, the tears fall, I brace myself on the corner of my dresser and attempt to calm myself.

It felt so real. It looked so real. Much like the scene last night, this too felt like a missing piece to my reality.

Who was he? Whose voice was that? Why do I feel such a strong connection? I want it to be real, I want to feel something, anything besides the sadness that consumes me each and everyday.

I straighten my shoulders, and head inside the bathroom to shower.

I place my shower cap on, and I step into the water and instantly give in as the hot water hits my back. A warm welcome from the harsh weather that comes with winter in Chicago.

As I step out, I stop to brush my teeth, head to my room and settle on wearing: grey sweatpants and a matching top, my uggs, and I free my hair from the confines of the scarf and comb it out.

I discard the beer from last night in the trash, suit up, grab my keys, and head out to Angela's house.

****Angela's House****

Exiting my car, I approach the steps to the front door. Reading the 'Bell out of order' sign, I knock, gently, on the door. No more than a second later, the door is wrenched open, and I am pulled in.

"Merry Christmas Bella!" Angela rushes out and hugs me with so much force and places a gift in my hand. For a woman as little as her, she's strong.

Tearfully, I hug her back with equal force and thank her. "Thank you, I..I… I didn't get you anything, I'm so sorry" I begin to hand the gift back, but she shakes her head.

"You didn't need to give me anything Hun, my gift was you coming here. My blessing is being able to give blessings, and speaking of which we should probably get to your biggest gift of all yes?" She questions.

I nod my head furiously in agreeance.

"Ben! She's here," She calls out.

"Alright, come on up!" He yells back.

"Sit your coat on the back of the couch" She points to the sofa in the middle of the room.

The house is your typical layout, the furniture reminds of of red velvet cake. The couches are a burgundy color; the end tables, coffee tables, fireplace, and arches are a cream white with a shining Christmas tree in the far right corner of the room.

I place my coat on the couch and follow Angela through their Kitchen and up the stairs, with both a heavy heart and mind.

She knocks twice on the ajar door to what I believe is Ben's office, and he turns in his swiveling chair.

When his eyes find me, I'm greeted with a weary smile.

He's a strong contrast from Angela, with his shaved head, large glasses, lines that mar his face from years of hard work, his porcelain skin, black eyes, and lanky figure; while she's, petite, slightly heavy set, brown eyes, brown colored afro, and dark shining skin. However, they fit.

My heart pounds again with the wish to fit with someone. Something.

"So, as Ang probably told you, there are some things you need to see," he explains .

"You guys really aren't helping me with the reassurance," I say half jokingly.

They share a glance, and both turn to me. Angela speaks first, "Bella, what all is it that you know about your life prior to the incident?"

"Well, I know my childhood, I know what my parents refreshed me on"

"Did your parents mention anything about a connection to Chicago? Friends?" Ben questions.

"No, they... uhh... said I had friends from Highschool, but they moved away. They said that I've spent my whole life in Forks, never wanting to leave. They of course were weary about me coming to Chicago though. Oh ha! My dad was more than weary, he was outraged" I recall.

Again. Another shared look.

"That's it?" They both ask.

"You guys there is nothing. If I knew anything there would be more I would have been able to tell you guys. The only thing I have is my parents and what I already know. And these weird images in my mind that come and go lately." I explain.

"Images?" Angela asks.

I shift uncomfortably from where I'm standing.

"Oh shit! Sorry Bella come on and have a seat" Ben says sheepishly.

"Thanks, but it's just these..uhh...images so to speak are more than images I should say. They're like pieces to a movie. Sometimes, they feel real, it's like I'm there in the that moment. I can taste it, I can feel it. Most days they feel like dreams. Other days they feel real, especially earlier there was a male's voice it was as if he was speaking to me. That's all I had was his voice and my face buried in his chest," I explain losing myself.

Snapping out of it, I see Ben and Angela gazing at me. Ben a look of awe and Angela teary eyed.

"What?" I ask.

Ben briskly turns around and pulls something up on his computer. He types a few things in and Angela continues to brace herself on the desk.

"Bella come here please," Ben requests.

I stand up with shaking knees, and gaze at the computer screen. My breathing stops, my heart pounds against my chest, and my head spins.

On the screen reads:

 _Marriage Certificate_

 _Isabella Marie Cullen_

 _DOB: September 13, 1989_

 _Spouse: Edward Masen Cullen_

 _DOB: June 13, 1983_

 _Marriage Certified: August 13, 2013_

 _Spouse..._

"No, no,no,no.." I chant.

There's no way. How can it be?

I close my eyes as the darkness consumes me.

Dun Dun Dunnnnnn.. Ok now, before you guys think I'm unreliable here's my defense. The document that I had saved...well didn't save. Because I'm an amature writer, I didn't create a backup, so over the weekend I've been rewriting and studying for my test. This chapter is a little lengthy, so I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for following the story guys, and sorry if there are any typos that I may have overlooked. I can only work harder to get better.

Much love….~B


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